Let's take a look at "Some Day My Prince Will Come"
Go ahead and wait till the end of the video, to find out how to get access to
all of these arrangements. So the first thing that you should probably understand about the Real Book,
is how important it is to not take it so literally. You need to look at the lead sheets, within the
Real Book, as a sort of impressionistic painting of the song. A lot of context is either merely implied,
or just missing altogether, when it comes to these lead sheets, not to mention all the mistakes that
can be found within the Real Book. At any rate, it's up to you to see, or even at times provide,
context. It's up to you to understand what's in front of you, and what your options are, so you can
make more deliberate and hopefully musical choices. The fact that lead sheets aren't even dedicated to
a specific instrument, speaks to how much context is missing, and how important it is for the player
to provide this context. What I'm basically trying to say is: when you stop looking at the Real Book's
lead sheets, as literal depictions of the songs, you'll begin to make choices that make the music
come alive. "If you're new to mDecks Music, we create music books and apps, piano arrangements and we
discuss: improvisation, songwriting, and sometimes, we take music theory to strange and uncharted places.
So subscribe and hit the bell, and join us for exclusive access to our ever
expanding library of music resources..." So here's a literal interpretation of what's in the Real Book...
This is NOT how you want to play from the Real Book! Not even as a level 1 interpretation!
Playing everything in root position creates something that is both physically demanding
and void of voice leading. And playing the melody in such a literal and simplified way, does not do
the music justice. So let's start our journey of interpretation with a few simple easy to implement
techniques. So, what we're going to do on the left hand -- in level 1-- is merely play each
chord on the downbeat of each measure, using a combination of: root position, inversions, and
rootless voicings. Simple! So let's take a listen to the first eight bars and see what we have here...
All right. So, you may have noticed -- right in measure 4 --
we have our first example of an inversion. This G7#5 is in 3rd inversion. ou see the
7th -- the F -- is on the bottom of that chord. All of the G7#5s in this arrangement are
actually going to be inversions. And there are only implementation of inversions. Take a listen again...
...and you can hear how the voice leading from the Ebmaj7 to the G7#5
is much smoother and more musical, when we do it like that. Not only that, it's way
easier to play physically speaking. And in the very next measure, we have our first example of a
rootless voicing (I'm going to press play) So, we're going to hear that... So, that Cm7 (right there)
you can see how it's voiced: Eb G Bb and D. There's no root (there's no root) in this
voicing. And again, this is going to create --from the previous measure and into the next -- smoother
voice leading, more musicality, and it's something that's a really commonly (um) implemented technique,
when it comes to these standards (these rootless voicings) We actually have
a whole series on how to use rootless voicings. So check that out. Basically what we did here -- I'll
give you a brief summation -- is: we've replaced the root with the 9th on this m7 chord.
That's it! There's other (there's other) rules that apply to other chords, as far as how to make them
rootless, but in this arrangement here, that's all we have to worry about. And as a matter of fact,
all of the Cm7s in this arrangement are also rootless voicings. Look at this F7
right here in measure 8. Another inversion that leads nicely away from the C7 we came from, and
creates a physically easier-to-execute sort of movement. So we have this idea of using inversions
to create smooth voice leading, and to make it actually easier to play. And we're going
to implement that sporadically (from time to time) So let's proceed on to the (to the)
next phrase. And this is just a reiteration of the of the opening phrase of the song.
Only -- in our arrangement here -- especially if you look at measure 18,
we've made a little change in the melody. And it's just a simple rhythmic displacement technique.
All right? Not only that, in measure 19, we've also changed the rhythm to have this dotted
quarter-note take place. So, we have basically here, two forms of rhythmic displacement. The
measure 18 example displaces the melody slightly later -- than it was originally intended to be -- and
then in measure 19, we have this other way of using rhythmic displacement, where we sort of anticipate
the melodic note. And we've done so, by way of this dotted quarter-note rhythm, which puts
this G -- that was formerly on the 3rd beat -- as you can see up here. This top line, by the way,
this is the original melody. So now you can kind of compare and contrast in real time, the changes
that were made, and the enhancements that were implemented, and when they were implemented. And if
you look up here, you see this G was on 3. And now, we've just slightly anticipated it by putting
it on the end of 2. All right, so let's take a listen to that phrase one more time and then,
we'll let it venture into the second ending, and talk about some of the things that happen there...
All right. So actually, a lot of stuff going on there, especially (uh) in the ending there.
Here we have (uh) an inversion of the Bb7, and also a slightly more complicated
rhythm. Right? So we're not just plotting onto this dotted-half note. We're breaking it up a little bit.
And we're increasing the the grid complexity if you will. We're increasing the complexity of
(of) the rhythmic grid of the song, and filling in the space, that was otherwise unoccupied on beat
2 in that measure. So, (uh) that's something to talk about right there. Right? Like the
the variety of rhythm being used -- here in measure... (what is this?) 26, is also something to be on the
lookout for. And then we have our last line here. This little outro. Let's take a listen to that
right here....
we have this inversion of the C#o7 chord, which creates a nice line from the
previous measure. We had Eb, E... and then that line's going to continue look over here...
to the F, and then a G, and then an A, and then ultimately on Bb. So we have a really cool
(as a consequence of this inversion) smooth voice leading, physically easier to play chords, etc.
But also, this really nice stepwise movement in the bass, which is something you hear us
constantly preaching on about. Another thing worth noting (noting) about the inversions, that we kind of
glossed over, (uh) was: they allow us, not only smooth voice leading, and physically easier
to execute chords but, they prevent us from placing these chords in (in) octaves that will either: sound
too muddy and clustered up -- that is: if I go down or, in an octave or a register that kind of bumps into
our melody, or creates dissonance against the melody, or overlaps the melody, or obscures it.
So there's all sorts of reasons for why the implementation of these inversions is useful and,
and that's one of them. And it's a really important one (worth noting) Moving on to measure 29. Here,
we have this a Cm7/F. So what's going on here, with this Cm7/F? Right? If i
were to play a Cm7/F, I would need five notes to represent everything in that chord, and (uh)
I have five fingers, on my left hand, so, I guess the math adds up that that's feasibly possible (um)
That's not what we've done here. What we've done here, is kind of just (well) highlighted the guide
tones, with these two half-notes right here. We've got the 7th and the 3rd of the chord, and the
other important note: (uh) the bass note -- the F --. And with that, that's all we need to sort of represent
the Cm7/F sound. It simplifies it. It opens it up a little bit. It lets it breathe. It
just sounds a lot better. It's more conducive to that line we were talking about earlier .
And we've again implemented that slightly more complicated rhythm to fill out, and make the grid
complexity a little bit more -- now we're playing on two. Whereas previously -- you know -- we weren't.
So what measure 29, I guess, kind of illustrates to us, is: you don't have to take -- like we said before --
everything on the page so literally. You don't even have to play the chords. Right? You could feasibly
play through this whole arrangement with just bass notes on your left hand, or something really
really simple. And that's kind of what's going on here in measure 30. We've simplified this F7
chord progression, to just a G half-note and an A. And this creates a really cool counterpoint
against the melody, and this is informed by the chord progression, and it's kind of informed by
that line that we've created over the last three measures. So, in (in) this measure here --measure 30 --
that's what's going on. Something way more simple, way more reduced, and yet, very very effective.
And finally we culminate on our last chord of the piece -- this Bbmaj7 --
where we've definitely introduced some more rhythmic complexity -- playing on every
single beat of the measure. And, on this last (uh) measure here -- on the Bbmaj7 -- we have
(uh) we have all of our notes here. We have Bb, we have F, we have the maj7 (the A) on the
left hand. (um) And this D, and this F, but we've also introduced the 9. And this is a really great
tension. We haven't used any tensions to this point. But this is a really great tension to introduce
to a maj7 chord. And that's what's going on here, in this last measure. So let's (let's) -- now that
we've talked about everything that happens in the song -- Let's go back and just take a listen through
the whole thing, and be on the lookout for all the enhancements and techniques that were implemented.
And also, keep in mind, that this song can sound great as it is, in this in this first level -- this
simplest form. I mean, what makes the song great is the fact that it's (it's) these melody against these
chords. So you already have like half the battle won there, and you don't need to inundate your
your arrangement, or your version of the song, with super complex things -- like (you see) you're going to
see later in the later levels are possible. (um) But this this level for me is (is) as viable, if not more
so, than some of the more complicated iterations of this song. Well, the moral of the story is
sometimes: Less is more! And you should be able to comfortably, like, lean into that, and don't
feel the need to go too crazy, and you know, learn how to edit yourself. Let's take a listen...
We're going to make this arrangement -- and all the other arrangements, as it relates to this series --
available to all of our members. So, if you're not a member yet, go ahead and click on the join
button, or the link down below. Also join us next time ,as we talk about level 2
of Some Day My Prince Will Come", and all the things we can introduce in that level,
to make it come to life even more. For more awesome music theory related content: click on
that thumbnail right there. Join us next time, and thanks for watching